/ world today news/ 21 years since the January storming of the parliament (video).
The attack on the National Assembly began with the protests against the then BSP government with Prime Minister Zhan Videnov
On January 10, 1997, Bulgaria was on the brink of civil war. Thousands storm the parliament, break and burn, and MPs barricade themselves. There were clashes with wounded people, it was recalled in a material published by Dir. bg
It all started with protests against the then BSP government with Prime Minister Zhan Videnov. People in many cities rise up and block roads, and students make live chains around the parliament, because the annual inflation is 310.8% and devalues their money – the lev collapses, the salary becomes 5 dollars, and the shops are empty.
19 banks went bankrupt, and with them the debts of the credit millionaires and the savings of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians melted away.
On December 21, 1996, an extraordinary 42nd Congress of the BSP was held. On it, Videnov announced that he was resigning as Prime Minister. He also resigned as party leader, and Georgi Parvanov was elected in his place.
A week later, the parliament voted in an extraordinary session the resignation of the government. The BSP insists on forming a new cabinet within the same parliament, but the opposition – SDS – categorically disagrees.
On January 8, 1997, the parliamentary group of socialists nominated Nikolay Dobrev, who was then a retired interior minister, as prime minister for the remaining two-year term.
Two days later – on the historic 10th, however, the president, Dr. Zhelyu Zhelev, refused to give a mandate to form a BSP cabinet, even though he is obliged by the Constitution. Zelev is motivated by the fact that his mandate expires on January 22 and leaves the decision to the newly elected head of state – Petar Stoyanov.
The opposition announces the beginning of a national political strike, calls for civil disobedience and organizes a protest march against the parliament.
Thus, hours later, the building was surrounded by demonstrators. They are said to be about 8,000 people. Some of them began to break windows with stones and flagpoles, and stormed the back door of the parliament. Some managed to break into the lobby and several rooms, smashing and burning furniture. Then they also attack in uniform with police batons, and the entrance is barricaded from the inside.
Outside, however, there were bloody clashes – dozens were injured after the police and Internal Troops intervened with force. Participants in the events claim that they were brought in by buses in uniform and there were protesters even in the side streets. Politicians are also among the victims – MP Filip Dimitrov ends up in “Pirogov” with a broken head (see in the video BNT archival footage of the assault and what Ivan Kostov says).
After the tension grows, the interior minister comes to the parliament. Personally, the then head of the SDVR, Gen. Krasimir Petrov protects Dobrev with a shield from the crowd (see exactly what happens below – note). He and representatives of the parliamentary groups meet in the office of the chairman of the Academician Blagovest Sendov to discuss the situation.
About an hour before the assault, Petar Stoyanov, who has not yet taken the oath, also arrives. At that time, Zhelev was visiting France.
“I’m here because I think people have the right to protest. They have nothing to eat and their life is Scottish,” Stoyanov declared before meeting with Dobrev and SDS leader Ivan Kostov.
At the same time, a group of red MPs sit on the stairs and sing: “Where are you, true love of the people”. Among them is Klara Marinova, who was then the spokesperson of the BSP.
“It was my idea to sing. I was enraged that all the MPs panned and exposed themselves in mouse holes”, said another participant – Dobromir Zadgorski later.
After all, tonight the demonstrators are dispersed by force. But the protests don’t stop. Thus, on February 4, 1997, the BSP returned the mandate to form a government. The political forces signed an agreement to preserve social peace and hold early parliamentary elections on April 19, 1997. They were won convincingly – with 52% and 137 parliamentary seats, by the United Democratic Forces (SDF, Democratic Party, BZNS, BSDP), and Ivan Kostov becomes prime minister.
Until then, however, a caretaker government was appointed with Prime Minister Stefan Sofianski. It immediately began changes, albeit at the edge of its powers – it announced the introduction of a currency board, sent Bulgaria’s request for NATO membership to Brussels and restored cooperation with the IMF.
The confessions of Stoyanov and Premianov
Still in the midst of the protests, at the end of January, Petar Stoyanov handed over a mandate to form a government to the Socialists. However, they never got to their second office.
Years later, he recounts exactly what happened:
“I handed a decree to form a government to the BSP for a week. I urged them several times to give up. I was afraid that if the BSP formed a second government, there would be a civil war and NATO and the EU would be too far away. When Dobrev and Parvanov came with the folder, I had to take it to the National Assembly, as it is according to the Constitution. And then with 125 deputies there would be a second BSP government. I was moving on the edge of constitutional powers. They left and told me, that I am going against the Constitution.
It then occurred to me to convene a National Security Advisory Council at half past two in the afternoon. I thought that the political forces would stand in solidarity and the BSP would give up the mandate. I called the council because there was no refusal in the folder. I told the BSP that after they want a mandate, they should go out through the main entrance of “Dondukov” 2. After that, everyone spoke for the BSP to return the mandate. Only then did Dobrev, Parvanov and Videnov give up their mandate”.
Krasimir Premyanov, who at that time was the chairman of the parliamentary group of the left, reveals that as early as Christmas 1996, Zhelev was going to hand over a mandate to the BSP for government, but Parvanov refused.
“I was very late with the mandate. The head of state invited us to consultations as the largest parliamentary group. He told us that he could hand over the mandate very quickly, but the new leader at the time asked for a postponement. He reasoned that he was not ready. I agreed, but Parvanov refused. Perhaps there would have been another BSP cabinet for a short time. The political initiative would have been in our hands, and not in the hands of the SDF. Zhelev stated that he could hand over a mandate by the end of the year we had to wait for President Petar Stoyanov to take office,” says Premyanov – a direct participant in the events.
According to him, in this situation, there would have been no storming of the parliament, which, according to him, was not spontaneous.
A man throws himself at Dobrev’s car, the crowd breaks through the barriers
Years after the events, the photographer from the newspaper “24 Chasa” Nikolay Litov told a curious fact that led to the denouement on January 10:
“Since early dawn I have been in the parliament, whose work I am accredited to cover. However, at some point I decided to go outside the building to photograph the protesters, whose shouts became more and more violent, and the objects that flew towards the building – more and more. To At 2 p.m. I went to the editorial office to hand in my photos. I was waiting for the trolley at the Rector’s stop in the direction of Orlov Most. The head of the SDVR is personally involved in protecting the minister from the protesters.
At that moment, I saw the jeep of Interior Minister Nikolay Dobrev. The moment I raised the camera, a man jumped out in front of the jeep. He threw himself on top of the car, not knowing whose it was or who was inside, apparently just looking to get into the frame.
Since the driver did not expect such an attack, by the time he could react and hit the brakes, the man was already under the wheels. The jeep screeched to a halt and the guard jumped out. Seconds later, Dobrev himself appeared from the back door. The security led the interior minister in the direction of the parliament, while the driver stayed to argue with the “attacker”.
Dobrev went to the National Assembly in front of the kindergarten of “St. Cl. Ohridski”, and I ran after him. The moment the protesters recognized him, the crowd pounced on him. Policemen were called as reinforcements, who formed a human shield around the minister. The metal fences around the parliament were opened for him to pass, but the crowd took advantage of the breach in the security and stormed the building. Under the umbrella of the policemen’s shields, Dobrev was saved from the shelling of the protesters. And even trash cans flew at him.”
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